Of Aquarians and Geminis
by IMBSA
Summary: The loser's story is never told. What happened during the Andy Arc while the camera focused on the Archangel? This is the other tale, the side that was kept a secret. AndyAisha
1. Aquarians and Geminis

Of Aquarians and Geminis

By: IMBSA & (to an extent) KAHBMG

IMBSA: Hello peoples! OK, I have a few misgivings about posting this 'cause I wasn't happy with it. However, after much assurance (and more coercion) I was convinced that it was just my paranoia talking. Anyway, this is NOT a Mwu/Murrue fic like you've probably come to expect from me. ::gasp:: Rather, it is an Andy/Aisha one. I've been looking around and found that there is a considerable lack of A/A fics. There's even less of them than M/M, 'cause at least M/M has a few floating around. There is a big ZERO fics on Andy and Aisha. I know, I know, you may be asking what the big deal is. The "big deal" is that I love this pairing almost as much as I do M/M, and they need to be appreciated!!!!! Ok, sorry for the rant. It just pisses me off to no end!

Disclaimer: "The king is dying, and his son is a weakling; who do you think will rule this country? Now open this door."

IMBSA: I'm sorry if I get them a bit OOC. It's been a while since I've seen _any_thing with Andy in it, and the 4th DVD has yet to come out, which is the one with Andy and Aisha on it. I also guessed on their Astrological signs (since I can't find their birthdates), so if I'm wrong, just remember that I can find neither their birthdates nor their ages. And so, to business.

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"Hey Andy, look at this," the pretty brunette remarked to the man across the room. The woman, Aisha, was lying on her stomach, the bed her chosen perch. An orange book lay in her hands, open to a page entitled "Aquarius."

"Yeah? What?" Andy, her companion, asked, a very distracted air about him as he pored over a map that took up most of the wall. Aisha's face bore an unhappy look when she saw that Andy preferred the map to her. She jumped up and walked behind him, arms encircling his chest as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"You've been reading that thing all night. They're not going to attack us right _now_. Take a break. Please?" She beseeched him, blinking up at him in a very pleading, very irresistible manner. Andy caved.

"All right." He conceded, grabbing his coffee mug and leading the way to their bed. Aisha lowered herself onto his lap, pulling her book towards them.

"You're an Aquarius, right?"

"Yeah."

"It says here that you're 'highly independent', you 'like to do things your way', you're 'quirky', eccentric', 'strange', and 'unusual'. Pretty accurate, wouldn't you say?" Andy raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?" He asked mockingly. "You think I'm 'eccentric' and 'strange'?"

"Yes." Aisha replied without hesitation. Andy pulled away, pretending to be hurt.

"Well, I never!" He put his free hand to his chest, above his heart. "Me? _Quirky_?" Andy pretended to pout. Aisha giggled.

"But that's why I love you." She murmured.

"Now that's the spirit!" Andy exclaimed, dropping his childish act. "What does it say about _you_?" He asked slyly.

"What do _you_ think?" She answered in the same manner.

"You'll read mine, but not yours? How unfair."

"Fairness is a trait of Librans, not Geminis, dear."

"Let me guess; you're a Gemini." Aisha nodded.

"You know your astrology." She approved. Andy nuzzled her neck.

"No, I know _you_." There was a pause.

"So what's so important about that map?" Andy sighed in response to her question, letting Aisha slide from his lap.

"You know that new prototype Earth Forces ship?" He asked over his shoulder as he walked over to the wall.

"The so-called 'Legged Ship'? What about it?"

"It's entered somewhere in the desert, so I'm responsible for its capture and/or destruction. Not to mention they seem to be getting aid from the rebels. It's my duty to take it down." Aisha immediately sobered by the somber attitude of her lover.

"So that's where you were last night." She stated matter-of-factly.

"Yeah. Observing it in action."

"Oh." Pause. "What do you think about it?"

"It'll be hard, but we'll be able to take it down." He took a sip of coffee. "In any case we'll still fight. Doesn't matter what happens." He made a face as the liquid went down. "Whatever this is, it's certainly _not_ coffee." Aisha rolled her eyes. Andy's love of coffee was famous. Or infamous depending on whether or not you were in charge of getting him his coffee. He pressed a button on his phone. "DaCosta!" He barked.

A moment passed, then a voice on speaker phone answered. "Yes sir?"

"Where's my coffee?"

"Isn't it in your room sir?" Martin's voice was trembling slightly. He knew he was treading on thin ice. VERY thin ice.

"If it was, do you think I'd be calling you about it?"

"N-no sir." Martin's voice had definitely acquired a stutter.

"I don't know _what_ you've served me. But it's _not_ coffee. Send up a decent beverage this time." He pressed the button again, effectively ending the conversation.

"That wasn't nice, Andy." Aisha remarked as he walked to sit beside her.

"Am I ever?" He asked, lifting her into his lap.

"Occasionally, yes."

"Hmm." Silence settled around them as Andy stared into Aisha's blue eyes.

A bit unnerved, Aisha asked, "What?" Andy didn't answer. He merely pounced forward, much like his namesake, the tiger, hands tickling through his lover's skin-tight suit. "Andy!" Aisha squealed before her laughter made any other words incoherent. Andrew laughed too at the pathetic picture she made at his mercy in his arms. She was able to gasp out, "No, Andy, please! Stop," before her laughter took over again.

It was amazing what simple laughter could do. Laughter is always so taken for granted, yet the sound jarred Andy into a place he seldom went without an aloof shield of sarcasm to protect him. Andy wondered how long it had been since any of them, himself and Aisha included, had laughed, and he meant _truly _laughed. It was the middle of a war. That was how he justified it. But he wasn't in battle now. Why should he pass up an opportunity when it bit him on the nose? Or, as was the case now, was lying in his arms?

Aisha's eyes widened when she felt Andy's lips on hers. Then they closed as she surrendered herself to her lover's will. She responded, lips caressing lips, until....

"Uh, sir?" Martin said from the door where he stood holding the mug of coffee Andy had ordered. His eyes were wide, as though he had been standing there for awhile. Breaking away from Aisha (with some difficulty), Andy jumped up, re-buttoning his jacket, the only thing he had time to shed.

"Ah yes, thank you Martin." Andy replied, considerably happier as he took the mug from his hands. Aisha rolled her eyes. The man was hopeless. Martin backed out of the room, eyes still wide and unblinking. Andy took a deep draught from the mug in his hands. "Now _that's_ coffee."

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IMBSA: Oh God, that was such horrible sap! v.v I'm getting worse and worse at this. Please R & R. If you liked it, well, thanks! If you didn't then you have two options:

A. You control your endless tide of anger and _politely_ tell me what you didn't like, or

B. You _can't_ prevent the powder keg of fury from blowing up, in which case I suggest you simply don't review at all.

Thanks! ::smiley::


	2. Reasons

Of Aquarians and Geminis

By: IMBSA

IMBSA: I am _sooooooooooooooooooooooooo_ sorry about how long it's taken me to update this. First of all, grades (as well as school) has been a bit of a bitch to me, so I've been restricted from the computer for, like, a long time. In fact, _I_'m not even the one who's posting this; KAHBG is, considering that I've seen neither hide nor hair of my laptop since mid-terms. But, ah, _c'est la vie._ I'd like to share with you (for those of you still reading this load of crap) a couple of things I've learned in my random passes through the Internet….Andy…is NOT an Aquarian….He's a Cancer, which makes no sense to me. And I am even _more _surprised to find out that 1) I was right in assuming that he was 30 years old in Gundam SEED and 2) his birthday (July 20) is the same as none other than my sister/coauthoress, KAHBG. Freaky, eh?

Disclaimer: "Fall for me lost angel/I'll fall for thee as well/To the world we're only strangers/Like a winter's chill in hell..." ("Star-crossed" Sirenia)

IMBSA: FYI, this chapter takes place the night before episode 21. And if you _really_ don't like sap, then just press that blinking silver button that says "Back".

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Aisha smiled as she slipped into the bed beside Andy. He was already asleep, and exactly like a baby, it seemed. With his eyes closed and his mouth slightly opened, he looked like a little boy, one Aisha wanted to hold and never let go. She stared at him, as though trying to memorize him, the slight lines around his eyes, the way his brown hair fell slightly into his face, how his broad chest rose and fell softly with every breath….Suddenly, his arms wrapped around her, pulling her to him. She, though slightly surprised, didn't resist, allowing herself to be drawn down to his chest as he placed a small kiss on the top of her head.

"You know, it's weird when you watch me sleep." He murmured into her hair. Aisha smiled.

"But you _weren't_ sleeping," she replied.

"True enough," he answered. He opened his eyes and looked at her. The expression in them confused Aisha slightly. Andy frowned and then kissed her tenderly on the lips. Predictably, Aisha kissed him back, but couldn't help but think that something wasn't right. There was a tinge of desperation to his kiss, as though Andy had become the cursed Tantalus in Hades who had finally caught the water to quench his thirst. As though is he didn't kiss her, didn't hold her tightly, she would disappear.

Aisha reluctantly pulled her mouth from his. He lunged forward slightly in response, as if intent on recapturing her lips, but Aisha stopped him by placing four gentle fingers on his mouth.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" Aisha knew Andrew well enough to see that he knew exactly what she meant. She fixed him with a stare that was both pleading and understanding, yet let him know that he wasn't fooling her. Andy sighed. He paused before asking, "What do you see when you think of the future?"

_What an odd choice of words…._She thought, wondering why in the world he would be asking her something like that. Still, she decided that the truth would be best. Even if she had her doubts while thinking it. To show Andy that she was, even then, not sure exactly what it was she "saw", she snuggled closer to him, seeking protection in his arms. "Well….The war ends—we win, of course—and the two of us…get married…have a few kids…." She smirked. "Though the number of children and order of those steps are _entirely_ up to you. And we'll live happily ever after."

"And what do you think about this…'vision of the future'?"

Aisha's reply was immediate and convinced. "It's fanciful."

"Why?"

"It'll probably never happen. Not with the type of sentiments stirred up on both sides of the line. If the Chairman had _his_ way, we'd all be fighting our asses off until Judgment day." She finished with a sudden surge of uncharacteristic anger that made Andrew raise his eyebrows. "I know he'd call it treason, but why do we have to do this? Attack innocent people, kill them even, all for _his_ twisted plans. Why can't we exist in peace?"

"So your heart's not in it?"

"_You're_ in it, and where you go, I go. I want to avenge our fellows, yes, but not at the price of innocents. Not at the risk of sinking as low as they did." Andrew was silent, processing his lover's opinions. Anyone else would have had to been guarded around the "Desert Tiger", but Aisha, being who she was, did not have such limitations. He said nothing, only lending an ear to her voice, a musical sound if ever he had heard one.

"Are you going to sortie tomorrow?" He asked.

Aisha raised an eyebrow. "Are _you_?" She countered.

"Of course. I _am_ their general. I should be out there right beside them."

"Then so am I."

"Aisha…."

"What?"

"I…don't want you to go out with us."

"Why not?" She sounded hurt; offended. "Am I not as good as any of the other gunners? Or is it just that my reasons for fighting is what's being questioned?" Gemini touchiness was making itself apparent.

"I just…don't want you to."

Something in his voice made Aisha realize that he hadn't meant to insult her. The man beside her was unsure—and, more than anything else, _scared_. Her mood immediately changed. "Andy." Her tone was reassuring and gentle, yet firm. "I just told you. I've promised never to leave you. And I won't. Andy, I fight for you. I fight for us. I fight for that vision of the future, no matter how unattainable it seems to me. I don't _care_ about the annihilation of the Naturals; I only care about us. And as long as there's an '_us_', all the rest of it doesn't matter to me. I fight for peace, for the end of this war if it means that we can be together. And I know you feel the same."

"I _do_, I just…." He hugged her closer. "I feel like I'm going to lose you sometime soon, and I don't want that. Ever." He repeated, "I don't want you to sortie tomorrow."

"We promised come what may. And this is that 'may' part. I'm _not_ gonna leave you. We'll get out of it. We always do. I'm going with you."

Andy sighed. "Then you're a fool."

Aisha smiled, knowing that that was his admission of defeat. "I'm a fool in love, for that's what love makes us." She heaved a mock-theatric sigh, and then giggled. "You're being deeply philosophical and romantic tonight." She looked at him, moving only her eyes. "I like this side of you." She approved.

Bad mood seemingly lifted, Andy smirked. "I know you do. But you also know that you _love _ALL of me."

"Depending on my mood and whether you've been a good boy or not." She smirked her own smirk in response.

Andy shook his head mock-wearily. "I'm scared that you're gonna do something to me in my sleep."

"Only if you want it."

He gave a little chuckle, and laid his head down on the pillow. Aisha snuggled into his chest, head tucked under his chin, eyes closed. She sighed contentedly and was, within moments, asleep.

When her breathing slowed into a regular pace, Andy's happy expression dropped from his face and he looked down at his lover as much as he could without waking her. "I'm sorry. But I love you too much to lose you."

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IMBSA: Well, that turned out kinda…_different_ than I planned it to. Sorry, folks, Aisha just got into her speech-making moods….Nothing I can do….There will be one more chapter to this story, and then it will be done. Oh, I have a question, and it _must_ be answered before I'm able to update "Second Chances", so if you want a new chapter to that, ANSWER ME! KK, my question is: are they not allowing songfics anymore on this site? They had a bulletin that said no lyrics in your fics that if you "didn't write it, don't put it in" or something like that. Please, I need to know. If that's true, then I have to rewrite the next chappie of "Second Chances". If not, then, well, we're good to go, aren't we? R&R!

**Sparrow:** Um….Thank you?

**ShadowCell: **I understand what you're trying to say, but I'll repeat it: I don't care about the _main_ (cough, kids, cough) characters. But I know what you mean about the plots.

**The-Wind-Miko:** Bu-bu-bu….DANI! How could you! You know I'm sensitive about my art! J/K, thanks for the encouragement! See you around (even though we're not goin' to the same school::tear, tear:) !

**TorroKetsu:** Thanks for telling me about the sap. I guess….I dunno, They're just too cute _not_ to write about.

**rnal:** Well….Here's the new chapter….I'll see what kinda comments it earns. I guess. :looks up at sky mouthing "Good comments, baby, good comments!":

**Chayla Maznable:** Thanks so very much! I'm glad you like it!

**REDKC: **Wittle brudder::huggles: Well, hello, hello. Thanks for reviewing!

**MissRule:** I know what you mean about the "genuine couple" thing. Really, they were. They were together before the series started, though it's only limited to being read in between the lines. (I've only read the manga and seen the anime, in case there's anything _else_ that shows their relationship.) But, hey, I like some of this so-called "fanon"—but only when there's nothing in the way. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!


	3. Fight the Good Fight

Of Aquarians and Geminis

Chapter 3 Rewritten: Fight the Good Fight

IMBSA: I'll admit it freely: my last chapter to this story was rather unfulfilling. I agree. I'm surprised you people didn't flame my ass off. So here. A marginally better ending chapter than the last. Think of it as a peace offering.

Disclaimer: "Fight the good fight every moment/Ev'ry minute, ev'ry day/Make it worth the price we pay"

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He felt like he was dreaming. Men in white coats came in. Men in white coats went out. They would check the beeping screens or peer into his eye, but none of that seemed to matter to him. He'd respond, as well as he could given the circumstances, but their visits ultimately meant nothing to him. He stared at the ceiling out of his good eye, blue orbs taking in the dirty whiteness.

That ceiling became his friend. By the third day, he knew there were 52 tiles (one foot by one foot) separated by half an inch of caulking. By the second week, he knew the tiles had, on average, around 130 small holes in them. He knew that the brown that had been spreading since who-knew-when was wet by splashing liquids from the bathroom in the room above. He knew the ceiling front to back and side to side.

Anything to forget that she was dead.

Aisha, his beloved, had been killed in the blast that took his arm and left eye. He knew her killer. When he was better, he could hunt Kira Yamato down and avenge her.

But—and this was what really nagged at him—he wouldn't. He couldn't blame the kid. Andy was a veteran at this game and had played long enough to know that you won some, you lost a lot more—and you just had to hope what you won was worth what you lost.

He'd lost. It was as simple as that. And though his head understood why she was gone, a hollow ache still stabbed his heart when he thought of her. It hadn't really stopped him from functioning—it was his injuries keeping him confined to a hospital bed—but he'd never felt such agony before, no matter how many troops he'd lost over the years. His soldier's sense kept him going, reminding him that though _she_ had died, _he_ hadn't—which meant that he had to carry on. He couldn't stop—not when there were orders to fulfill and men to lead and OMNI to fight. He couldn't give up and die. He had to believe that Aisha wouldn't have wanted him to.

But Andy was not blind (despite the lack of one eye) and knew that something was wrong about the war. Being left to nothing but his thoughts, he processed the battles and slaughters of the war—from Junius Seven to the recent fight in the desert—and realized that Aisha was right. The future they had wanted could never come to be for them and it wouldn't come for anyone else at all if they continued fighting.

To him, his path was clear. He would fight on and live, neither ZAFT nor OMNI. He would work for that fanciful future for someone else, who still had a chance to live it. Peace would come quickly now that the Desert tiger had learned what really mattered and how to achieve it.

He would help some other Andy, with his own Aisha, have a future. He could fight for that.

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IMBSA: Still bad, I know. But hey, at least I didn't have Andy do any womanish weeping. R & R!


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